Jackets fall short against talented Cedar Grove
Calhoun loses in Elite Eight as Saints have big night offensively
Calhoun went into their Class AAA Elite Eight matchup against Cedar Grove knowing the Saints were capable of making a lot of big plays and needed almost a perfect effort on Friday night at The Reeve.
But while the Jackets made their share of plays offensively, Cedar Grove made several more. The Saints’ offense racked up 451 total yards on several big plays, including three first-half touchdown passes of 20 yards or more as the Jackets’ season came to an end with a 47-21 loss. It’s only the second time in the past nine years that Calhoun (10-3) will not appear in the Final Four.
“I’m pleased with how we fought tonight, but we probably got beat by a better football team,” said Calhoun coach Hal Lamb. “We knew we had to play close to perfect football and have them make a few mistakes, but that didn’t happen tonight. We had some momentum in the first half, but we got a bad call and things seemed to go downhill from there.”
Cedar Grove (11-2) got a big night from senior quarterback Jelani Woods, who threw for 260 yards and three touchdowns on 9-of-14 passing and also rushed for 62 yards and two touchdowns. Grant Walker balanced out the offensive attack with 156 yards of his own on the ground on 23 carries with a touchdown.
The Jackets saw the bigplay ability of Cedar Grove early on in the contest as Woods connected with Dennis Bell on a 34-yard touchdown pass on the Saints’ second drive of the game to start the scoring. The pair struck again late in the first quarter as Bell hauled in a 61-yard TD reception from Woods to put them up two touchdowns. Bell finished with 153 yards on five catches.
Calhoun cut the deficit in half to grab the momentum at the tail end of the first quarter as Gavin Gray fit a pass into a tight window to Bryson Davis who then took it 61 yards for a score to pull the Jackets to within seven at 14-7. Davis finished with 102 yards on four catches. Luke Jones also finished with over 100 yards receiving with 122 yards on six catches.
The Jackets looked like they were going to pull even midway through the second quarter as Gray found Porter Law for what looked to be another touchdown pass, but the play was called back on an offensive pass interference penalty. Instead of getting seven, the Jackets were forced to attempt a 36-yard field goal which hit off the right upright for an unsuccessful attempt.
“It’s disappointing when you score a touchdown, and they call it back because the official called it a pick,” said Lamb. “We looked at it on video, and it was a very bad call especially in this kind of situation. I feel like if we score there, this is a completely different ballgame. We still might not have won, but that certainly changed the momentum of the game.”
The Saints seized that momentum and drove back down the field to go up 20-7 eventually on a 17-yard touchdown scramble by Woods. The extra point was blocked. They added some more insurance in the closing seconds of the first half with a 24-yard TD pass from Woods to Jadon Haselwood. The two connected again for a two-point conversion to make it 28-7 at the half. Haselwood finished with 82 yards on three catches.
Calhoun continued to battle in the second half as they looked to cut the deficit to two scores on the opening drive of the third quarter but were turned away on fourth down in the red zone after an unsuccessful throw-back pass. Cedar Grove marched down the field from there and Woods scored on a two-yard run to make it 35-7 and essentially ice the game.
Baylon Spector scored on a three-yard run late in the third quarter for Calhoun, but Cedar Grove added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter on the ground. Walker scored on a 15-yard run, and Demetrius Tharpe scored the final TD of the game late in the fourth on a 19-yard run.
Gray connected with Luke Moseley for a 22-yard touchdown pass for Calhoun midway through the fourth. Gray, a sophomore, was a bright spot in the loss, throwing for 339 yards on 25-of-36 passing with two touchdowns an one interception. He connected with nine different receivers.
Gray is one of several underclassmen that contributed big not only on Friday but throughout the season, and Lamb said he is encouraged by that going into next year while still being disappointed that the playoff run came to an end for a great group of seniors.
“I’m looking forward to next year,” said Lamb. “I think we have a good nucleus coming back, and I’m excited about that. If we work hard and get better in the offseason, I feel good about what we can do.
“But right now it’s about these seniors. I hurt for those guys. They gave us everything they had tonight and all season.”